Ukraine, ICAO preliminarily agreed to resume flights over Black Sea

(QHA) -

Ukraine and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have preliminarily agreed on resuming flights in the airspace of the Black Sea, press service of Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure informed.

Speaking during a meeting with the ICAO leadership, Eurocontrol, IATA and FAA, which took place during the second High-Level Safety Conference in Montreal (Canada), Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE), director Dmytro Babeichuk said the UkSATSE is fully able to service air traffic in international airspace over the Black Sea which Ukraine is responsible for.

According to Babeichuk, in 2014 Ukraine properly updated the letters of agreement with Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, which also confirms its responsibility for providing quality air traffic services in international airspace over the high seas, for which the country is responsible on the basis of existing regional air navigation agreements and decisions made by the ICAO Council.

As we earlier reported, the UN aviation agency said it hoped to open a new route for commercial aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea that would be managed by Ukraine and without "interference" from Russia.

In an interview with Reuters, Raymond Benjamin said the International Civil Aviation Organization was in talks to open new flight paths over parts of the Black Sea, closed to air traffic last year due to conflict in the region.

That airspace, managed by Ukraine, is off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia last year.